Stories related to: psychology

Face Facts: People Prefer Mean-Looking Cars

LiveScience  |  Oct 6, 08 4:10 PM CDT

(Newser) - Friendly is out and angry is in—for cars, at least. When people look at cars, they tend to see human faces and characteristics, LiveScience reports. A new study found that "power" traits such as dominant, masculine, and angry—think BMW's 5 Series—top the list. And the results have the attention of automakers desperate to know more about how people pick cars. More »

Lack of Control Breeds Superstition

NPR  |  Oct 5, 08 10:35 AM CDT

(Newser) - Superstitions and conspiracy theories all boil down to control issues, a new study says. When subjects in a University of Texas test were made to feel out of control, they saw more patterns that did not exist—whether images in a fuzzy picture or links between unconnected actions. Which is why people like investors and baseball pitchers, who rely on things outside their control, are often superstitious, NPR reports. More »

Scare Easily? You May Be a Conservative

Washington Post  |  Sep 19, 08 1:27 PM CDT

(Newser) - People who startle more easily at loud noises or frightening images may be more prone to taking conservative political stances, reports the Washington Post. A new study suggests that there may be a biological basis for people's stands on contentious issues, with those who react less strongly to perceived threats seemingly predisposed to have liberal ideologies. More »

Cruel TV Makes for Crueler Viewers: Study

USA Today  |  Sep 16, 08 1:32 PM CDT

(Newser) - Psychologists have long known about the link between on-screen violence and real-life aggression, but a new study suggests video cruelty has much the same effect, USA Today reports. Groups of subjects shown either footage from Mean Girls of the hands-off hostility known as "relational aggression" or a knife fight from Kill Bill were both more likely to turn vicious than a control group. More »

You Are Your Music: Study

Independent (UK)  |  Sep 6, 08 6:11 PM CDT

(Newser) - Our favorite music speaks volumes about who we are, according to a new psychological study. It turns out that Indie fans are miserable, and metal heads act a lot like classical music lovers. The Independent breaks down personalities by genre:   Indie: Low self-esteem and lazy, not to mention selfish and unkind. Rock: Hard-working and creative, but also unfriendly and hardly generous. More »

Doc, I Think I'm on Reality TV

New York Times  |  Aug 28, 08 12:17 PM CDT

(Newser) - In The Truman Show , Jim Carrey's life was nothing more than a reality TV program, with actors playing his friends and family and millions of viewers watching his every move. Those themes of surveillance and artificiality pervade the lives of a growing number of psychiatric patients—people who think they are always on camera, surrounded by performers, the New York Times reports. More »

Children Can Count Without Numbers

Wired  |  Aug 19, 08 8:30 AM CDT

(Newser) - A study sure to fan a fiery disagreement among developmental psychologists has found that children can count objects even if their language lacks words for the numbers involved. Researchers found that Australian Aboriginal children, who know words for only a few small numbers, did just as well as English-speaking children on counting tasks, Wired reports. More »

Bronze Medalists Happier Than Silver Winners

Washington Post  |  Aug 18, 08 4:46 AM CDT

(Newser) - Newly minted gold medalists are ecstatic, second-place finishers slightly less so, and bronze winners the least happy—or so conventional wisdom would have it. But psychologists find that bronze medalists are usually happier than those who finish with silver, the Washington Post reports. Why does this Olympic paradox play out so regularly? More »

Drugs Shrinking Psychiatrists' Talk Time: Study

HealthDay News  |  Aug 5, 08 8:15 PM CDT

(Newser) - Psychiatry is increasingly focused on prescribing drugs and less on psychotherapy, a study published in the Archives of General Psychology finds. A reluctance by insurance firms to pay for therapy is one factor, HealthDay reports, along with the wide variety of drugs now available to treat various conditions. More »

Age Is Just a Number; for Guys, It's 31

Best Life  |  Aug 5, 08 4:14 PM CDT

(Newser) - Most men have two ages, theorizes author Douglas Coupland of Generation X fame: "the age we really are, and the age we are in our heads," which he pegs at "about 31 or 32." Coupland explains in in Best Life magazine: "When middle-aged men look in the mirror they think, 'I'm sorry, but there's been a horrible mistake.'" More »

Shopaholics Trying to Buy Self-Esteem

Deutsche Welle (Germany)  |  Aug 2, 08 11:39 AM CDT

(Newser) - Shopaholics crave the self-esteem boost they get from interaction with retail staff far more than the actual goods they buy, new research shows. Psychiatrists believe the findings will lead to a new course of therapy, rather than the usual treatment of prescribing antidepressants, Deutsche Welle reports. The disorder affects up to 10% of Western consumers, researchers say, and can destroy lives. More »

Archery's Terrifying Secret

New York Times  |  Aug 1, 08 7:09 AM CDT

(Newser) - The greatest fear of elite archers is something called "target panic"—an affliction that keeps some from releasing their bow, and causes others to shoot wildly as soon as the bull's-eye comes into sight. Many archers won't even say the words, although the condition has at some time affected up to 90% of their ranks, the New York Times reports. More »

A Lefty Will Be President

Washington Post  |  Jul 4, 08 8:07 PM CDT

(Newser) - No matter what happens in November, a left-hander will take the White House. In fact, five of the last seven presidents have been southpaws. While left-handedness has been taken as a sign of everything from artistic talent to brain damage, ambidexterity may be a desirable quality in a leader. Left-handedness expert Melissa Roth tackles the topic for the Washington Post . More »

Flip-Flopping Pols Are Just Channeling Inner Hypocrite